Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine

Spitball Magazine

Spitball is a literary baseball magazine founded in 1981 and dedicated to poetry, short fiction, prose, art, and book reviews; all devoted to baseball. In 1983 Spitball established the CASEY Award to honor the authors and publishers of the best baseball books published each year. The CASEY was the first award of its kind, and it is widely recognized as the most prestigious award that a baseball book can be given.

A key component of Spitball's mission is the timely publication of authoritative, lively, and appreciative reviews of quality baseball books. These reviews can be found in our Baseball Books Reviewed section. We also publish short and to-the-point reviews of current baseball books in the "Baseball Book News" column at the back of each issue of Spitball Magazine.

Spitball's Latest News

November 16, 2018

Cincinnati, OH

JUDGES FOR 2018 CASEY AWARD ANNOUNCED

Spitball is pleased to announce that the 2018 CASEY Award will be judged by Bob Mayberry, Mike Miller, and Luke Salisbury. Mayberry (Camarillio, CA) is an English professor at Cal State Channel Islands and a playwright who has had more than 30 of his plays staged. A competitor in ocean swim events, he is also working on a detective novel and a baseball short story collection. Miller (Cincinnati, OH) is an attorney and bank executive. Salisbury (Chelsea, MA) is the author of The Answer Is Baseball and three novels, including the highly regarded TheCleveland Indian. His novel about the War Between the States, No Common War, will appear in April. Spitball Editor Mike Shannon praised the panel, saying, "As usual, we have seated three Judges who are knowledgeable and qualified by virtue of their love of baseball and reading. They have a tough job in front of them, but we are confident they will do a splendid job and identify the very best baseball book from the list of Finalists they have been given. We are grateful for their service." The deadline for the Judges to return their CASEY Award ballots is January 25, 2019.

November 7, 2018

Issue #83 An Immediate SELLOUT!

The Fall 2018 issue of Spitball, #83, is published and will be mailed to all subscribers on Thursday, November 8, 2018. The issue features a dazzling painting of recent Hall of Fame Inductee Jim Thome by the incomparable Donnie Pollard on the cover, as well as Mark Schraf's classic "poetic" report on the speeches of Induction Weekend 2018. Another installment of "Chapbook Corner" (reviewing Edwin Romond's "Home Team"), delicious short stories by Richard Brown, Scott Culpepper, and Greg Hoard, and poems by Michael Harty, Julio Marzan, Greg Moglia, Thomas Reynolds, and James Scruton round out the issue. Although the issue is SOLD OUT, any subscriber who does not receive this issue within two weeks should contact Spitball immediately. The only way to avoid missing the next great issue of Spitball is to be one of our loyal subscribers or to subscribe today. As our readers know, there's nothing like Spitball Magazine anywhere else!

November 5, 2018

Cincinnati, Ohio

Finalists for the 2018 CASEY Award Announced!

The editors of Spitball are pleased to announce that the Finalists for the 2018 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year have been announced. The list of 12 Nominees can be found on the "CASEY Award" page of this website. The list of Nominees is usually limited to 10 books; but, as Spitball Editor Mike Shannon points out, sometimes it is just not possible to restrict the list to 10 books. "We agonize over every spot on the list," says Shannon, "and it is inevitable, every year, that some very deserving books get left out. But this year we found the job of compiling the list of Finalists to be especially difficult. There were just a lot of terrific baseball books published in 2018, and so we opted for more rather than less. It makes the Judges' job all the more difficult, we realize, but we felt it is better to tax the energy of our dedicated Judges than to deny a couple of more books the recognition which they deserve. This is a very strong list, and the book which emerges as the winner of the 36th CASEY Award will have accomplished something great indeed." Spitball congratulates all the Nominated authors and publishers and thanks all the publishers and authors who sent review copies of their 2018 baseball books to the Magazine. Again, for the complete list of the Finalists for the 2018 CASEY Award, please visit the "CASEY Award" page of this website.

August 8, 2018

Cincinnati, Ohio

Special Issue on the Black Sox World Series of 1919

The editors of Spitball are pleased to announce that the Spring issue of 2019 will be a special issue devoted to the infamous 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, which has come to be called the "Black Sox World Series." Few events in baseball history are as important as the Black Sox World Series, which continues to this day to fascinate fans, historians, and writers everywhere. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the event, Spitball will devote its Spring issue of 2019 to publishing the very best new writing on the subject which the Magazine can find. Thus, we invite all interested writers to submit poems, short stories, essays, and writing of all kinds on any facet of the subject for this special issue. Writers who wish to submit something for this issue should follow the normal Writers' Guidelines which can be found on this website. NB: only unpublished writing should be submitted. We are not interested in reprinting previously published material; nor do we under any circumstances consider simultaneous submissions. Deadline for submission of all materials for this issue will be March 1, 2019.

October 10, 2016

Walton, KY

NEW MAILING ADDRESS

It's official: Spitball now has a new mailing address, and all books for review, submissions, and correspondence should be mailed to:

536 Lassing Way

Walton, KY 41094

Please make a note of our new address.

BACK ISSUE SET

Complete sets of Spitball Magazine are not available, as numerous past issues are completely SOLD OUT. We do, however, offer back issue lots, containing 15-20 different back issues. The differing number of issues available is the result of supplies on hand and finds/repurchases of past issues. The current price of the Back Issues Lot is $60, postpaid.

PayPal Function Available for Purchase of Sample Copies

Sample copies may now be purchased via the PayPal function on this website. Simply go to the Store page and scroll down until you see "Sample Copy: $6" right below the "Lifetime Subscriber" offer.

LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION

New Price in Effect; Recognition for Lifetime Subscribers Coming Soon

When you invest in a LIFETIME Subscription to Spitball, you not only avoid the hassle of renewing every year, thereby saving us the trouble of reminding you to do so, you also guarantee that you will never miss an issue of the magazine. Ever. Most important of all, you help support the second oldest all-baseball periodical extant and the only one that is of a literary nature. The price for a LIFETIME Subscription has gone up $25 to $125, but that is still a remarkable value. Make yourself the envy of all your baseball buddies by becoming a Spitball LIFETIME Subscriber today! Visit the store page of this website to order your lifetime subscription.

Lifetime Subscribers are now acknowledged on a special page on the Spitball website. In addition, each Lifetime Subscriber is presented, as a token our appreciation, with a handsome certificate, meant to be framed and hung proudly in his home or office. Thanks to all subscribers and especially to those who have made a lifetime commitment to the Magazine.